Matthew 27:24-26 Pilate Washed His Hands
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: September 16, 2019 Matthew 27:24-26
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.” And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!” Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.
(Understanding the Text) Pilate claimed to be innocent of Jesus’ blood, but he could have refused to kill an innocent man. Instead, he chose not to take a moral stand. History shows us that Pilate could be quite bullheaded when he wanted to be, so this was not a case of a weak-willed individual unable to stand up to the Jewish leaders. He had already done that before.
The people willingly took the guilt of killing the Messiah upon themselves. They were controlled by Satan in that moment, but they had chosen to be controlled. However, there is a double meaning to having Jesus’ blood on them and on their children. Jesus’ blood makes forgiveness possible. Thus, this could be seen as a curse-these are the people who chose to kill God, or it can be seen as a blessing-these people are the recipients of the forgiveness of God for everyone on earth.
(Revelation of God) Jesus went ahead with the sacrifice even in the face of human ingratitude, ignorance, and hatred. Jesus loves us and longs for our love, but all He saw in those moments were humans who were rejecting His love. He had done nothing to any of those humans to make them hate Him so, except that His very existence as a sinless being was a reproach to them.
(Understanding the Text) It was standard practice to scourge victims before they were placed on the cross. Many people look highly on the Roman Empire. They forget the cruelty and arrogance of the empire. They forget that these people would turn on each other at the drop of a hat and that they lorded their power over others. There was a reason why so many people felt the need of a redeemer throughout the empire, and that was because of the life they led under Roman domination. People forget all too easily what has happened in the past, and they romanticize it so that the reality is not recognizable inside the tale.
(Application / Prayer) My application for myself is that Jesus loves me even when I’m venal and petty and grouchy and unkind. I don’t know how You do that. Help me to love You back.